Driving mechanism for cycles



(No Model;)' 2 Sheets-{Sheet 1.' J. T. PEDERSEN. DRIVING MECHANISM FORCYCLES.

Patented Aug; 3,1897.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. T. PEDERSEN.

DRIVING MECHANISM FOR CYCLES. No. 587,601. Patented Aug. 3,1897.

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' of which the following is a specification.

v protected from dust and of but little weight.

, trating a modification in the positions of the UNITED STATES V PATENTOFFICE.

J OHANNES TH. PEDERSEN, OF IVOODSIDE, NEIV YORK.

DRIVING MECHANISM FOR CYCLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 587,601, dated August3, 1897. Application filed September 14, 1896. Serial No- 605,69l. (N0model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J OHANNES TH. PEDER- SEN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at lVoodside, in the county of Queens and State of NewYork, have invented an Improvement in Driving Mechanism for Cycles,

Bicycles ordinarily known as safetybicycles have usually been propelledby sprocket-wheels and a chain from a crankshaft, but in consequence ofthe wear upon the chain, the accumulation of dust, and the exposure ofthe parts chain-driven cycles are objectionable in many particulars. Thepresent invention is for giving motion to the back wheel .of the cycleby levers and gear ing, so as to dispense with the chain and at the sametime allow for the cycle being driven by a substantially verticalrise-and-fall movement of the feet instead of the circular movementheretofore required in propelling the cranks.

lVith the aforesaid object in View a pinion is provided upon the hub ofthe rear wheel and a larger wheel gears into the same, the proportionatesize of the gearing being regulated according to the leverage requiredin propelling the cycle, and the foot-levers are pivoted and providedwith pedals or footpieces at their front ends and at their rear ends areconnected with slotted arms, there being a crank-pin upon the gear-wheeland a roller in the slotted arm, so that the gearwheel is rotated andthe pinion and drivinggear of the cycle propelled by the alternateupward and downward movements of the foot-levers, the parts beingcompact and easily In the drawings, Figure 1 is a general elevationillustrating the positions of the parts. Fig. 2 is a sectional planView, in larger size, showing the mechanism at one side of the wheel.Fig. 3 is an elevation, in larger size, of the mechanism with the-capremoved and the auxiliary cap and end piece in section; and Fig. 4 is adiagrammatic elevation illusparts.

A portion of a cycle-frame is represented at A and a portion of the backwheel at B. These parts may be of any desired character,

and there is a pinion I upon the hub of the wheel 13, engaging agear-wheel II, which is larger than the pinion, so as to obtain thenecessary speed, and there is a slotted arm G, pivoted at 6, and acrank-pin and roller 7 are within the slot of the arm G, and the slot isof sufiicient length for the crank-pin to revolve with the gear H andmove backward and forward in the slot. of the arm as such arm swingsupon its pivot 6.

The parts named are in any suitable box or inclosure E, the same beingpreferably constructed as hereinafter more fully described.

It will now be understood that if a rocking movement is given to theslotted arm G' the gear II will be rotated by the arm acting upon thecrank-pin and roller that are within the slot, and the pinion will berevolved and the back wheel propelled at the proper speed, the samedepending upon the proportionate sizes of the gear II and pinion I.

The slotted arm or actuator receives its motion from a connection to thefoot-lever, and I prefer to employ the devices hereinafter described,and I remark that where two pinions are made use of near the respectiveends of the hub of the wheel B two gears H and two slotted arms G willbe required, and the box for containing the gears and other parts is tobe provided at each side of the frame, and the parts are put together insuch a manner that the slotted arm G on one. side will be in the reverseposition to the slotted arm on the other side, so that one pedal-levergiving motion to the slotted arm may be depressed while the other iselevated and one will be descending as the other ascends.

I prefer and use levers O O, with pedals or foot-pieces D at their frontends, and the lever 0 is pivoted at at within the gear-box E andprovided with a toothed sector F at its rear end engaging the toothedsector G upon the slotted arm Gr, there being similar devices at eachside of the frame and wheel, but only one is represented in thedrawings; and it will now be apparent that the slotted arm G receivesits motion from the toothed sector F at the rear end of the lever O, andin so doing the movements given to the toothed sectors are communicatedto the slot-ted arm and from the same by the crank-pin, roller, and gearH to the pinion on the hub of thedriving-wheel.

In carrying out the details of construction it is advantageous toprovide an arbor 8, projecting from the gear-wheel H, such arbor runningin the ball-bearings K, which are made upon the back portion of thegear-box E, the inner portion 9 of the ball-bearing being passed throughthe side of the gear-box from the inside and receiving upon the outsidethe screw-cap 10, by which the parts are held firmly in place, and theballs are between the inner bearing 9 and the arbor 8, adjacent to thegear-wheel H, and also between the arbor 8, the bearing 9, and thebearing-ring 11, that is secured to the back end of the arbor 8 by ascrew. This allows the parts to be separated and at the same time formsa very reliable bearing for the arbor of 'the gear H. It is alsoadvantageous to provide ball-bearings for the hub of the wheel B. I haveshown the said hub tubular, as at 12, and the sleeve 13 of the pinion Iextends to and is firmly connected with the hub 12, and in the pinion Ithere is advantageously a hardened-steel bushing 14 for'the balls 15,and there is a bearing 16 upon the cross-shaft L, said annular bearing16 acting with the balls 15 and bushing 14 to form the balLbearing atone side of the back wheel, the other end of the back-wheel hub beingsimilarly supported, and this cross-shaft L is sustained at its outerends in the gear-boxes E, as hereinafter described.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 3 the slotted arm G is represented as having an eyepassing around the cross-axle I which forms a pivot for the same, and inthis case the annular bushing 16 may be provided with asleeve to receivethe eye of the slotted arm G, and there are nuts for adjusting theball-bearing and for holding the eye of the slotted lever upon thebearing, it usually being preferable to screw the annular bearing 16directly upon the cross-shaft L and hold the same by a lock-nut orcrosspin, and the sleeve around this annular bearing 16 and within theeye of the slotted arm G forms the pivot 6 for said arm G. In caseswhere the slotted arms G are pivoted below the gear H, as seen in thediagram Fig. 4, there will be only the annular bearing 16 and lock-nutdirectly upon the cross-axle L at the ball-bearing.

It is advantageous to make the gear-boxE with upper and lower flangesand to connect the back portion of the box firmly with the frame of themachine and to provide a movable cap E to close the outer side of thebox. This cap may be of any desired character and should be secured bybolts, which are shown at 17. It is necessary to properly support thecross-shaft L, and with this object in view the auxiliary cap 18 is madewith a hole, through which the end of the axleL passes, and thisauxiliary cap is within the end piece 19, and the cap also has a flangeadjacent to the edge of the pinion I to aid in excluding dust, and theend piece 19 has flanges that pass above and below the upper and lowersides of the gear-box E, and it also has a flange extending down behindthe pinion I and terminating closely adjacent to the tubular sleeve ofthe pinion, and this end piece 19 is rigidly fastened to the end of thegear-box E by the bolt 20, that passes vertically through the end pieceand through the top and bottom portions of the gear-box and is providedwith a nut at the bot-tom, and a screw 21, preferably provided with agib intervening between the end of the screw and the auxiliary cap, isused for pressing the auxiliary cap forward and in so doing bringin gthe teeth of the pinion I properly into gear with the wheel H, and thisprovides a sufficient adjustment to compensate wear in the gear-teeth,and it is advantageous to employ nuts 22 on the ends of the cross-axle Lto clamp the same and the sleeve at 6 firmly to the auxiliary caps.

The pivots 4 of the levers O C may be of any desired kind. I haverepresented in Fig. 2 the pivot as projecting from the sector Fandpassing into a steel bushing 23, that passes through the back portionsof the gear-box and is driven in tightly. If desired, the lever C (or 0)maybe made as a forward extension of the sector F, as indicated by thedotted lines in Fig. 2, such lever projecting from the end of thegearbox E; but to'aid in excluding dust I prefer to have the lever 0outside the box E, and with this object in view the pivot 4is extendedthrough the cover E of the box and receives upon it the eye of the leverC, the parts being suitably connectedas, for instance, the eye of thelever setting upon a squared portion of the pivot and being held inplace by a nut, as shown in the drawings; and I remark that the pedal Dupon the outer end of each lever O or C may be of any desired characteradapted to being acted upon by the foot, and hence such pedal rises andfalls approximately vertical, and the feet in alternately raised andforced down and the propelling movement is given to the cycle throughthe slotted arms, crank-pin, and gear, as aforesaid.

If the slotted arm G is pivoted either above or below the gear H, asillustrated in the diagram Fig. 4, such slotted arm may receive motionin any desired manner, and I have shown a connecting-rod 24, pivoted atthe rear end to the slotted arm and at the front end to a crank 25 uponthe foot-lever 26, and with this construction there will be twofoot-levers 26, one at each side of the frame upon the cross-shaft 27,and the connections will be made as before mentioned, so that onefootlever 26 will be down when the other is up and onewill be movingdownward as the other is moving upward in giving motion through the rods2% to the slotted arm, as aforesaid.

It will be understood that in putting the parts together the pinion,ball-bearin g at each side, and the cross-shaft are put together uponthe-tubular hub of the wheel, and then the parts are slipped into theframe, the rear end of the box E being open or formed as a jaw to allowfor the insertion of such parts, after which the auxiliary cap, the endpiece, and the bolt are put into position at the rear end of each box.

It will be observed by the diagram Fig. 4 that there are nodead-centers, as in crank movements, because when the radius to thecrank-pin on one side is perpendicular to the slot of the link, andhence at the dead-point, the radius to the crank-pin on the oppositeside is not at right angles to the slot of the link. Hence one of thefoot-levers is always in a position to be acted upon in giving motion tothe wheels.

I claim asmy invention 1. The combination with the wheel and frame in acycle, of a pinion upon the hub of the wheel, a gear directly engagingsuch pinion and a crank-pin upon the gear, a short arm pivoted upon theaxle of the wheel and having a straight slot therein receiving thecrank-pin upon the gear, a pivotal support and a foot-lever thereon andextending forward of such support, and a connecting device between theback end of the foot-lever and the short slotted arm, substantially asset forth. Y

2. The combination with the wheel and frame in a cycle, of a pinion uponthe'hub of the wheel, a gear directly engaging such pinion and acrank-pin upon the gear, a short arm pivoted upon the axle of the wheeland having a straight slot therein receiving the crank-pin upon thegear, a case inclosing the gears, slotted arm and crank-pin, a pivotalsupport and a foot-lever thereon and extending forward of such support,and a connecting device between the back end of the footlever and theshort slotted arm, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination with the wheel and frame in a cycle, of a pinion uponthe hub of the wheel, a gear directly engaging such pinion and acrank-pin upon the gear, a short arm pivoted at one end and havingastraight slot therein receiving the crank-pin upon the gear, a caseinclosing the gear, pinion and slotted arm, a pivotal supportand afoot-lever thereon and extending forward of such support, and aconneotin g device between the back end of the foot-lever and the shortslotted arm, substantially as set forth.

4:. The combination with a wheel and frame in a cycle, of a pinionconnected with the hub of the wheel, a gear engaging such pinion, acrank-pin for the gear, a slotted arm pivoted at one end, a sector uponthe slotted arm, a foot-lever and sector upon its rear end engaging thesector upon the slotted arm for giving motion to the same, and to thecrank-pin, gearing and cycle-wheel, substantially as set forth.

v 5. The combination inadrivingmechanism for cycles, of a pinion uponthe hub of the cycle-Wheel, a gear-wheel engaging such pinion, a box forinclosing the gearing and ballbearings for the hub of the cycle and forthe arbor of the gear-wheel, a crank-pin and roller upon the gear-wheel,aslotted arm anda pivot at one end and receiving the roller and crankpininto its slot, a sector connected with the slotted arm, a foot-leverpivoted at its rear end outside the box and a sector Within the boxconnected to the foot-lever and engaging.

the sector on the slotted arm for giving motion to the respective partsin propelling the cycle, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination with the cycle-Wheel, having a tubular hub, of apinion connected to such hub, .a box receiving the pinion and supportedby the frame of the cycle, the rear end of the box. being open for thereception of the hub of the wheel, a cross-axle passing through thetubular hub of the cycle-wheel and ball-bearings between the pinion andthe cross-axle, an auxiliary cap receiving through it the end of thecross-axle, an end piece and cross-bolt by which the end piece isrigidly connected to the box for the gearing,- and a screw acting toadjust the auxiliary cap, the cross-axle, the ball-bearings and thepinion in relation to the box and gearing for driving the pinion,substantially as set forth.

7. Bicycle-propelling devices comprisinga pinion on the axle of thedriving-wheel, a gear directly in mesh therewith, a swinging actuatorand a crank-pin on the gear, and having a sliding connection with theactuator, a footlever independent of the actuator and extending forwardof its pivotal support and a rearward connection therefrom to theactuator, substantially as specified.

Signed by me this 9th day of September,

J OHANNES TH. PEDERSEN. Witnesses: I

GEO. T. PINCKNEY, S. T. HAVILAND.

